GH4 and 14-140 stabilization issue

jkoch2 wrote:

Kawika Nui wrote:

Summary of my experience with GH3 & 14-140mm.

Just got a new 14-140mm (f/3.505.6). Used it with GH3.

The video shows jitter.

Probably goes unnoticed, or umentioned in reviews, because:

1. Lens reviews tend to focus on still photography performance.
2. Video performance reviews are usually written by people who use the GH4 body with wide, fast lenses of other brands, possibly with MetaBones adapters, on a tripod, and with stabilization shut off. The only Lumix lens on their "radar" might be the Nocticron, which few can afford, and might not use hand-held anyway.
3. Most GH4 buyers get some lens other than the newer 14-140.
4. Most hand-held video is apt to appear shaky anyway.
5. Compression for streaming blurs the video somewhat anyway, especially if viewer see it at 480p or less.
6. Some Amazon buyer reviews mention a "shutter shock" issue, at lower shutter speeds, but many rate it lavishly anyway. Only one review, posted 28-Oct-14, seems to address the video jitter issue directly.

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Lumix-Vario-14-140mm-3-5-5-6/product-reviews/B00CFCTH14/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_3?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addThreeStar&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

Thanks for the link; I'll check it out.

Does the video show jitter, even with OIS off, and on a tripod? Does the jitter diminish if the shutter speed is higher?

I addressed these issues in my post.

Two months ago, while comparing a GH4 with the 14-140 ii lens, against a HDC-SDT750, the latter's dual POIS+digital stabilization was slightly better than the OIS-solo of the 14-140 ii, but I was using only a 17" 1080p monitor, and did not see micro-jitters in either. I used both hands to hold either camera, and zeroed in on flower blossoms against a dim background of foliage, at a distance of about 4 meters.

Does the jitter issue appear independent of whether one shoots in 4k, 1080p, or at one bitrate or another? Same under bright or dim conditions? Wide or zoom? Problem the same at 60p, 30p, or 60i?

I described in detail what I did.  With a GH3 (the camera I said I used), there is obviously no way to know about 4K.  I don't find this issue significant enough to run a series of tests.  It's enough to know that under the conditions I described in some detail, there is visible jitter.  I leave it to others to find the precise conditions (if any) under which the jitter can be avoided.  Not that it really matters in terms of keeping the lens or not.  There isn't much point in owning something with a variety of unusable settings.  So either I (and others) live with it, or not.